Dark Souls
•
Page 730

@Architect_z Ye ive completed the game countless times i wanted to use straight swords loved them on demons souls but havent really used them on this i find there a little underpowered, and yes i am doing a faith build.

sid92 wrote:
@Architect_z Ye ive completed the game countless times i wanted to use straight swords loved them on demons souls but havent really used them on this i find there a little underpowered, and yes i am doing a faith build.

I venture into Undeadburg, population: infinite. I go along, kill some skellies. I go up... into a tower. Spiral staircase, up and down: up = boss. AIII! Down = guy with massive club, insta death. Go back - only other path I can see = another mega dude, has way too much health.

Don't go near the guy with the massive club just yet, he'll pound you into mush. Instead go up spiral staircase and consider how it was you did the first boss. Look behind you when you go through the fog and all will be revealed. Also, roll and run are your friends to some degree.

@RedSparrows - what can really help swing that fight, is by buffing your weapon with some pine resin. There's a chest in the undead burg (not far away from circular room of death that you're near) that has some. The only problem is getting to it. Either pick the master key as a starting weapon, or go shopping with the merchant in the undead burg (he's somewhat hidden)

Started this recently (with Pyromancer, as recommended). Thoughts as follows:

1. Lots and lots of death, mostly brought about by falling to my doom due to camera issues (flicking from locked on to not)
2. It has to be the worst UI in any game ever. Nothing is explained. e.g. I bought some healing magic not realising that I needed an item with which to cast that type of magic. The whole using of humanity was brushed over in the game despite its massive importance - for kindling fires and 'unhollowing' etc.
3. Continual punishment. I used some humanity to make myself human - yay! - only to then immediately have my game be invaded by some beefed up player who slaughtered me without mercy. Humanity lost.

Despite these frustrating design decisions, I find myself strangely compelled to play on. Reckon this is one that I'll seek some online guidance on though. I dread to think how many hours you'd need to sink into it to discover everything yourself. I'll try and find some halfway home between self-exploration and tutelage...

to be honest most of your complaints are spot on, however it is one of the best games ever. Have a look at the wiki beginner guide and play guides just avoid the walkthroughs til you have tried things yourself.
A lot of it is learn as you go.

evild_edd wrote:
Started this recently (with Pyromancer, as recommended). Thoughts as follows:

1. Lots and lots of death, mostly brought about by falling to my doom due to camera issues (flicking from locked on to not)
2. It has to be the worst UI in any game ever. Nothing is explained. e.g. I bought some healing magic not realising that I needed an item with which to cast that type of magic. The whole using of humanity was brushed over in the game despite its massive importance - for kindling fires and 'unhollowing' etc.
3. Continual punishment. I used some humanity to make myself human - yay! - only to then immediately have my game be invaded by some beefed up player who slaughtered me without mercy. Humanity lost.

Despite these frustrating design decisions, I find myself strangely compelled to play on. Reckon this is one that I'll seek some online guidance on though. I dread to think how many hours you'd need to sink into it to discover everything yourself. I'll try and find some halfway home between self-exploration and tutelage...

Get on the wiki dude, you'll be fine once you understand how the basic game works. There's the old playground chat type thing going on with a lot of content, sharing stuff that has been discovered. It's half the fun in my book. There's no shame in using a walk through either, no amount of reading will help you against some of the stuff you'll come up against!

What level are you? I made a faith build specifically for helping people out. It's a bit of a shame that a lot of the community leans towards invading these days. I've helped quite a few people out but it always seems to be the same 5 odd people catching up with me!

evild_edd wrote:
Started this recently (with Pyromancer, as recommended). Thoughts as follows:

1. Lots and lots of death, mostly brought about by falling to my doom due to camera issues (flicking from locked on to not)
2. It has to be the worst UI in any game ever. Nothing is explained. e.g. I bought some healing magic not realising that I needed an item with which to cast that type of magic. The whole using of humanity was brushed over in the game despite its massive importance - for kindling fires and 'unhollowing' etc.
3. Continual punishment. I used some humanity to make myself human - yay! - only to then immediately have my game be invaded by some beefed up player who slaughtered me without mercy. Humanity lost.

Despite these frustrating design decisions, I find myself strangely compelled to play on. Reckon this is one that I'll seek some online guidance on though. I dread to think how many hours you'd need to sink into it to discover everything yourself. I'll try and find some halfway home between self-exploration and tutelage...

You've gone into Dark Souls with too many modern day gaming preconceptions sadly.

Dark Souls DOES NOT hold your hand in any way shape or form, it's specifically designed to be a game which you have to fight through in order to fully understand how the game works, and death, lots and lots of death, if all part of that concept. Which is alienating to a lot of people, again because of what they have come to expect from modern gaming, but if you stick with it, have the patience to learn the ins and outs of the game, you will discover one of the finest RPG's ever created.

evild_edd wrote:
I'll try and find some halfway home between self-exploration and tutelage...

Yeah the less you know the better - I would really veer towards self-exploration on your first playthrough at least.

As for some of the basics (humanity, using magic etc) people in this forum are typically great at telling you just what you need to know without giving too much away.

That said - you can go too far with this philosophy - e.g

I started the game at a mates place with my profile and finished the first boss ...then didn't play again for about 8 months so..... picking it up again I carried on without referencing anything and....SPENT 60 hours of gameplay without realising there was a run button.

yeah yeah I know I know.

I only found out when it became obvious I needed a running jump lol.

How much of those 60 hours were due to me trudging around meandering I don't know but hey, you know what - it kind of added to the atmosphere, I really took everything in and , when I finally discovered the sprint it was like I had a whole new power up skill ;D

Oh and I hardly bothered with the MP aspect of it at all on my first playthrough.

In all fairness, you shouldn't worry about multi-player at all in your first play through of the game, not anymore anyway as the game world is full of skilled/cheating players who will just put you off the game.

Basically, in your first play through, the only reason you should 'go human' is to kindle bonfires, then find a safe place to kill yourself to go back to hollow and carry on.

evild_edd wrote:
I'll try and find some halfway home between self-exploration and tutelage...

Yeah the less you know the better - I would really veer towards self-exploration on your first playthrough at least.

As for some of the basics (humanity, using magic etc) people in this forum are typically great at telling you just what you need to know without giving too much away.

That said - you can go too far with this philosophy - e.g

I started the game at a mates place with my profile and finished the first boss ...then didn't play again for about 8 months so..... picking it up again I carried on without referencing anything and....SPENT 60 hours of gameplay without realising there was a run button.

yeah yeah I know I know.

I only found out when it became obvious I needed a running jump lol.

How much of those 60 hours were due to me trudging around meandering I don't know but hey, you know what - it kind of added to the atmosphere, I really took everything in and , when I finally discovered the sprint it was like I had a whole new power up skill ;D

Oh and I hardly bothered with the MP aspect of it at all on my first playthrough.

Love this game so much it's obscene.

Ha almost the opposite to what I said! One thing that can be agreed on though, stay offline on your first playthrough. Way too many gankers around these days.

There's nothing wrong with going human, it really helps with drop rates and allows for NPC summoning. Just don't bother signing into live/psn. There's a few fights where summons npcs is very useful for new players.